The train was visibly moving, yet the customers in the Restaurant Train of Delicacy were unable to feel even the slightest bit of motion at all. There were sounds of the wheels rolling along the rail tracks, but the carriage was perfectly still as if it was simply floating along.
As the group of four were talking randomly about their day jobs, a penguin waiter with a bulter suit came by and interrupted their conversation. “First, Mesdames et Messieurs. Let me thank you for choosing to ride with us in the Premium Carriage of the Restaurant Train of Delicacy. We would like to inform you that we do have certain features to make your wait more enjoyable.” The Penguin waiter said as he pressed a button beside the table and a flat projection screen appeared at the middle of the table.
“Since the four of you have not only attempted but also completed the Bank Heist dungeon instance before, we would like to provide you with this 3D map of the bank heist dungeon. On it, you can plan out your moves and the estimated enemy response would be simulated in this projection screen. You can also replay any of your previous dungeon runs of the Bank Heist for reference and make a revision on what to expect.” The Penguin waiter explained.
“Oh?! I do remember hearing of this feature back when the store just opened. However, it was renovated into that tranquil gallery on the third floor before I ever had the chance to use it. Can we use this feature to also watch other people’s dungeon runs instead while waiting for our food?” Bin Yong was rather excited to see the return of this particular feature of the dungeon store.
“Thank you, Monsieur, for remembering such a feature of the Dungeon Supplier. To answer your question, yes you are able to not only watch current dungeons runs, but also listen to the commentary for those being projected. You are also able to review previous dungeon runs by other teams. You will have access to all the videos as provided in our streaming service. Should you change your mind, you can simply change the channel to simulate any possible runs in the future too. It was just that this humble waiter did not know that you had prior knowledge of this feature. Please pardon me, Monsieur.” The Penguin bowed.
“In any case, if you do not wish to watch or revise any runs, you can also just enjoy the scenery during this train ride which I believe should be a treat to see, especially for the first time.” The Penguin waiter commented.
“Where is this train heading? Do we need to wait for the train to stop before we can exit this instance?” Jia Le asked, and the penguin waiter shook his head cutely.
“No, Mademoiselle. You can exit the instance at any time. Just inform one of our penguins, and we will escort you to the exit. For your former question, we will first be heading to the ‘Northern Icelands’. If luck has it, we might be able to see some Aurora lights in the process too. When that happens, we will open the roof for better viewing.” The Penguin waiter told them and the group became excited.
“Even if it is not real, this will be a treat to watch!” Luo Bo was excited as she could not believe, that she would not need to go all the way to Europe to look at those Aurora lights.
“Now I understand why Yun said we might be coming here on a regular basis.” Luo Bo said to the group, and the others agreed to.
“The best has yet to come Mademoiselle. Your dishes will arrive shortly. Let me get your drinks first.” The Penguin waiter bowed once again, and in a matter of minutes, another similar looking penguin waiter came and served them their drinks.
Bin Yong was the first to receive his Panda Soda. He immediately noticed that it was no longer served in a can but arrived already poured into a glass. He took a straw and drank it, only to realise there was a slight difference compared to the ones he previously had.
“This taste…!” Bin Yong couldn’t control himself and quickly drank another mouthful. “This is slightly sourer than before but I’ve felt as if something in me was churning. As if my chi vital points felt more refreshed than ever.”
Shi Zuo thought Bin Yong was exaggerating as he drank his coffee only to realise the fatigue that he had acc.u.mulated for the past few days was lifted from him. “I feel more energetic than ever…! The spirit energy in this drink is at least two times more than before!” Shi Zuo determined, and the Penguin waiter grinned with his beak.
“Yes, the food here contains more spiritual energy than before mainly because of the newly awakened skills of our new chef.” The same old penguin waiter, who took their orders in the beginning came with a tray on top of his head.
“The level of skill required to balance four bowls of soup and noodles and not dropping a single drop of soup on the tray…” Jia Le was amazed by the ability of the Penguin Waiter.
The ramen, which was served was not exactly the same as Jin had previously. This time, it was served with twice the amount of Chashu slices. There was a large piece of nori seaweed at the side and a mix of chopped up scallion and green onions at the centre of chashu ramen bowl. Upon closer inspection, a few pieces of Menma (bamboo shoots) and half a soft boiled Tamago (egg) was hidden behind the large piece of nori.
“The smell of this ramen…” Bin Yong had to control his saliva and his urge to dig in. He felt like there was a monster underneath him, lurking behind a cage and staring at the food as if there was an enticing prey right in front of it. But he barely managed to control that craving until the penguin waiter served everyone’s ramen. But like a beast, who had not eaten for several days, Bin Yong started feasting on the noodles even before the waiter said: “Please enjoy.”
However it was not just him, the rest immediately started ravaging the bowl of chashu ramen, and it was not a beautiful sight to behold at all. The juicy meat of the thick pork belly slice. The clear yet flavourful soup broth. The crunchy chunk of bamboo shoot and not to mention the well seasoned soft boiled tamago in the soup base.
People said that if you were able to talk during a meal, it meant that the food was not tasty enough for you to concentrate on eating. Although it was not especially quiet with sounds of firm noodles slurping into their wet mouths, no words were being spoken for the next few minutes.
“Oh my god. This is definitely the best ramen I have ever eaten in my entire life.” Luo Bo took the opportunity to rest for a moment after she gobbled her noodles and drank her bamboo juice to ease the swallowing.
“This is the first time I’ve ever finished such a large bowl of noodles…I do not feel any regret gaining some weight from it.” Jia Le let out a small burp with her hand covering her mouth for manner’s sake, but Shi Zuo was doing the exact opposite, letting out a loud burp that echoed through the cabin.
The group had a short laugh until they suddenly could feel their dantian churning the spirit energy that was absorbed by eating and felt slightly restless. It was then, that the penguin waiter came by again and asked for their feedback on the food. They had nothing but non-stop praises to offer, although all of them did agree that something was amiss.
“Ah. Maybe you should take a look at your statistics in the Pandamonium page.” The Penguin Waiter suggested, and they did as instructed. All of them were astonished to see a boost in their stats, especially in the strength portion. There were some discrepancies because of the different drinks they had taken, but both Bin Yong and Jia Le had the same stat increase because they ordered the same items.
“What! You mean this food will boost our strength as such?” Shi Zuo accidentally screamed at the top of his voice as he only ever heard of such legendary food being sold by an exclusive cultivation guild organised by a select few people. Some say that even the Royal Zodiacs members needed an invitation to interact with that particular guild.
“Hahahaha, there is no way my food is that phenomenal.” Lynn laughed as she walked towards them before she took off her chef’s hat and bowed towards Luo Bo and Jia Le. “Please, let me treat you guys to this meal as a token of gratitude.” Even the penguin waiter beside them bowed with her.
“Your food? But didn’t the penguin waiter say that the head chef was called Lynn?” Luo Bo was rather stunned as she did not expect Lynn to be such an extraordinary chef.
“Well about that…My real name is Lynn Arisato.” Lynn was trying to clear everything up, yet before she could continue, Shi Zuo, who was trying to finish the final bits of his coffee at the same time, almost coughed out the contents in his mouth.
“EHHHHH?! YOU are THAT Lynn Arisato? The Prodigal Devil Chef that was caught up with the Last Supper Scandal?! Oh my god, you really do look like her!” Shi Zuo shouted again before Luo Bo bashed him on his head to calm him down. The rest of the group did not know who that Lynn exactly was supposed to be.
“Ahaha, that’s because I am her. Although I would not call myself Prodigal Devil Chef. But yes, I am that Lynn. Boss Jin gave me an opportunity to rise back up to the cooking scene. However I hope that you can keep this information to yourself. I do not want too cause any more trouble for Boss Jin.” Lynn said in a rather gentle tone which Luo Bo’s sixth sense began to suspect things.
“Do not worry Zhen- Lynn. We will always come and protect you if need be.” Jia Le smiled as she reassured Lynn.
“Anyways, if you are done with your food, you can enjoy the train ride for a while more, or you can also start doing your dungeon raids. The stat boost is only temporary, it should probably last for an Earth hour or so. So you should still have plenty of time to relax in the train or you can grind in the dungeons.” Lynn bowed once again before she departed while commanding her little penguins.
